


like we were just kids.

by MostlyFandomTrash



Series: there's a reason they call it a tragedy. [6]
Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Mortal, F/M, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Just Kids by Mat Keamey, Minor Character Death, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 13:37:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16430420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MostlyFandomTrash/pseuds/MostlyFandomTrash
Summary: we were just two kids with wet cement living down in their souls.or, charon and styx.





	like we were just kids.

**like when we were just kids.**

 

/

 

( _ Cause it was Bell Biv DeVoe, playing on my radio _ _  
_ _ And I had Wu-Tang Clan living in my stereo _ )

 

Charon is the oldest boy in the Mortem house, and he hates it with every fiber of his being. He hates having to hide his siblings when his mother comes home, when his father wakes up. He hates that he can't go to Eris for help anymore (she's too numb to the pain, he knows), and he hates that Nemesis left them the first chance she got, and he hates that all Moros left them was a rope and crumbled piece of paper. He hears the door open and his mother's laughter as he coaxes Hermera into the back room and leans against the door with the broken locks and he hates it.

 

/

  
( _ Mama said we're 6th generation Oregonians _ _  
_ _ I was rocking in Jordans with reflector tongues _ )

 

The first time Styx Rivera notices the herd of siblings that live in the house next to hers, she's sitting on her front porch and they're walking home from school. She hears her brothers wrestling in the living room and she hears Lethe call her name from upstairs, but her attention is focused on the dark haired children walking past. The oldest one -- or, the one she guesses is the oldest -- throws an arm out for them to stop their movement. He speaks, but Styx can not hear him. Then, one of the younger ones grabs his arm and points directly at her. He looks up and he glares.

 

/

  
( _ Two kids with wet cement living down in their souls _ __  
_ They say what gets caught when you're young _ _  
_ __ Stays there when you're old )

 

He learns, as do all his siblings, their new neighbors moved from California. There are five of them, but only the girls go to his school (he doesn't know where the boys go, nor does he care), and he has both of them in his Greek class.

 

At the end of the day, Charon laughs when one of his brothers asks if he'd seen the pretty staring girl. “Yeah, Hyp, and she's a real ass.”

 

/

  
( _ So misunderstood they say _ _  
_ _ You're up to no good _ )

 

She doesn't understand why he hates her so much, nor what she did to deserve it. Styx had barely spoken three words ( “hello” was one, “good morning” were the other two) to him before he slammed his locker shut and walked away. She decides, tomorrow, she'll ask those kids her sister met about him.

 

/

  
( _ And now we're trying our best _ _  
_ _ To start it over again _ )

 

He makes a beeline for him before the bell rings, and Charon really wants to walk the other way. (He doesn't.) “Yes?” He asks, before the other boy can even open his mouth.

 

“There's some girl asking about Seph and Artemis about you, Char.” Hades informs him casually, as if this is an everyday thing and he should be used to it. He blinks.

 

“What?”

 

/

  
( _ If I'd had met you at the playground _ _  
_ _ Before a hand could tear your world down _ )

 

From what she learns from the two girls her sister introduced her to, the boy she saw is one of the nine Mortem siblings. “There's nine of them? I only saw five.”

 

The darker haired girl shook her head. “There's nine; one of them, Moros, is dead, Nemesis left town about four years ago, Eris dropped out in her senior year, and Eos is too young to go to school.”

 

“What about the other five?”

 

The other, blonde girl sighed. “There's Charon (that's the one you asked about), Ker (she's on the wrestling team), Thanatos and Hypnos (they're the twins), and Hemera (she's not in highschool yet).”

 

/

  
( _ Before I slammed down the door and _ _  
_ _ You said I'm just like my old man _ )

 

There was knock on the door as his father stood up, his long, dark hair falling in his eyes with the bottle hanging loosely from his fingers. Erebus drops it and walks towards the entrance, cursing. “What the fucking hell do you want?” He opens the door.

 

She's standing there, school bag slung over her shoulder, staring up at the man. “Excuse me, sir? Does, uh, does Charon Mortem live here?”

 

“What do you want with my boy, you little bitch?”

 

“Hey! Don't call her that!” His father turns, eyes going wide before narrowing again. “The hell did you just say to me?” Erebus Mortem slams the door in Styx Rivera's face.

 

/

  
( _ Before I put you in those boxes _ _  
_ _ And we learned how to disagree _ )

 

She notices Charon isn't at school the next day or the next or the next. Styx doesn't go over to investigate. He comes back that Friday, and sits down across from her. She stops herself before she gasps.

 

He has a black eye and, from the look of it, a broken nose. “Never, come to my house again, you hear me?”

 

“I won't.” She breaths, eyes darting back to his eye. “I swear, I promise, I won't.” He stands up and turns to walk away, but he stops.

 

“And, Styx? I'm sorry I was such a ass to you.”

 

/

  
( _ And how your family is a rocket _ _  
_ _ That blows up in infidelity _ )

 

She listens to him, he notes, but she also doesn't. A few days after they talk in the cafeteria, she starts walking home with them (her sister, Lethe, doesn't; they don't ask why). His brothers are amazed for a few days, and pester her every second of the walk.

 

He, too, is amazed. That has more to do with the way she plays along with their questioning.

 

/

  
( _ For crying out loud I wanna know _ _  
_ _ How the waves keep on crashing down the doors _ )

 

It takes a few months for Styx to work up the nerve to ask him to come over. He laughs, and she has to repress the disappointment that wells up in her stomach, but then, to her amazement, he nods. “Yeah, okay. I'll sneak out the back door.”

 

“Don't get in trouble because of me, Charon.” It's the first time she's called him by his name, they both realize. She swallows, and smiles.

 

He shakes his head softly, and the bell rings.

 

/

  
( _ Feel the weight of the world _

_ And they keep on bringing more _ )

 

Eris narrows her eyes at him as he creaks the back screen open. “What are you doing?” She hisses, her voice low.

 

“I have to go see a friend.” He responds, and his older sister raises an eyebrow. “That girl you defended the other day?”

 

He nods, and smiles. “Yeah, I have to go see Styx.”

 

/

  
( _ If it's just you and me on the floor _ _  
_ _ Go grab your coat and I'll drive us home _ )

 

He taps his hand against the back window, and she opens the door. “Charon? I thought you'd have been here hours ago.”

 

“Sorry, I had to wait for Mom and Dad to go to sleep.” He breathed, the adrenaline from successfully sneaking out wearing off. “I can go back if it's too late.”

 

“No.” Styx said instantly, grabbing his arm and pulling him inside. “No, don't.”

 

“Yeah,” He rose an eyebrow. “Okay.”

 

/

  
( _ Like we were just kids _ __  
_ Just, j-j-just kids _ _  
_ __ J-j-just kids, just, just kids )

 

The sun was rising by the time he went home, and getting back inside turned out to be the more difficult aspect of this mission. Charon sighed and slowly turned the knob, wincing as the door creaked.

 

When no one swung it open in a drunken, wild manner, he slipped inside and walked slowly back to his room. Climbing into the bed he shared with his brothers, he almost cursed as Eos lifted her head from the floor to look at him. “Cha? Where you go?”

 

“Nowhere, baby. Go back to sleep.”

 

/

  
( _ Like we were just kids _ __  
_ Just kids, j-j-just kids _ _  
_ __ J-j-just kids, j-j-just kids )

 

They are walking from school almost a week later when Styx kisses him on the cheek before rushing up to her door and slamming it shut. He blinks slowly, and Ker bursts out laughing.

 

“What the actual fuck just happened?”

 

/

 

fin.

 


End file.
